Measuring your carbon is good. Using the data to drive real, measurable change is better. Net-zero planning can help you do that more effectively, says TBL’s Oliver Errington.
Until now, when businesses have taken action on carbon, that action has tended to be measurement. That’s good. An essential first step in lowering your carbon footprint is knowing exactly what size that footprint is.
Once you have that information, though, the next step is to do something with the data. Ideally, that something would be to reduce carbon. Lots of businesses have set targets to do exactly that, but then comes the hard part of delivery – and that requires a plan.
The impact of SBTi v2
Adding to the urgency of planning is the arrival of v2 of the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi’s) standard. Published in 2026, with targets submissible against it from 2027, the new standard places a greater focus on continually reducing your footprint over time and setting targets which are more granular (and arguably more achievable) than was previously the case.
Despite the refinements in the new standard, v2 is still very large and rather unwieldy. It may be easier for businesses to submit and track targets than the previous version, but there’s more to consider when setting those targets and a broader landscape in which to work – all of which further emphasises the need for a plan.
The value of net-zero planning
Take electricity usage, part of Scope 2. Requirements are still being finalised but currently, under SBTi v2, a business can still set a location-based, absolute emissions reduction target in much the traditional way (’). It also presents an alternative option: to set a target for a percentage of electricity to come from renewable sources.
As a business, you might reasonably ask what the reality of choosing one or other of those targets looks like. What’s involved? What’s the impact? How do the targets compare? What barriers would stem from choosing one target over another? Which is of greatest relevance?
That’s the value of the planning process. It helps you develop an internal net-zero strategy with targets that drive the right actions and outcomes, and ensure those targets are SBTi v2 aligned where appropriate. Then, when it’s time to articulate how you’ll put those plans in place, you have a firm, well-considered bedrock from which to build your transition plan.
Crucially, net-zero planning also aims to make actions easier and more rewarding. No net-zero plan sets out to be a theoretical exercise. But there’s always a risk that, once a business has identified the various steps that could help take it toward meeting carbon reduction standards, the plan of action to ensure it happens never quite materialises.
We want to make sure it does.
A net-zero plan you can really use
To take a real example (and a TBL customer), imagine a network of body shop repair garages. Most of the network’s footprint comes from the emissions embedded in the parts its garages and franchisees buy (doors, bumpers, wing mirrors etc) and the energy they use in things like spray booths, ovens (to bake paint finishes) and air compressors.
There are plenty of other emissions sources (vehicle shipping, commuting etc) that have a minor impact, but in developing this client’s net-zero plan we tried to focus on the biggest contributing factors that, in large part, the business is able to control – areas where improvements could lead to real, meaningful change.
In this customer’s case, that meant exploring the following:
- Increasing the amount of renewable electricity procured
- Exploring energy efficiency measures (e.g. right-sizing air compressors and optimising bake time and temperature in spray booths)
- Procuring green (used) parts – something that’s becoming increasingly viable through making use of digital matching tools
- Continuing to place emphasis on repairing over replacing
At the same time, it’s important to ensure the planning survives contact with reality. The single biggest adjustment the business could have made would have been to switch its gas ovens to electric. But, as our conversations with stakeholders in the business revealed, that would have cost tens of thousands of pounds. So we built a plan based on the impactful and feasible, because unless it’s feasible it won’t happen.
Plan for the impact you can make; not the impact you can’t
It’s fair to say that nothing a business does will have quite as much of a positive impact as decarbonising its supply chain.
The problem, of course, is that this is largely outside its control. It might be outside the supplier’s control too as they wait for grid decarbonisation or other major infrastructure projects to take shape. Faced with such challenges, the temptation may be to throw your hands up and say, ‘well, there’s not much point in tackling the relatively small proportion of emissions over which we have control, is there?’
But there is – and from many perspectives. Every tonne of CO2 reduced is money saved, know-how gained, credibility built (with suppliers, investors and customers) and compliance supported. And that’s before you consider the unexpected business opportunities that come from finding innovation in, for example, circularity.
So what’s the point of net-zero planning? It’s about looking at the factors within your control and the impact you can make. It’s about creating something pragmatic and usable. It’s about finding the opportunities in frameworks such as SBTi v2 (should you choose to align with them) and driving action that makes a real, positive difference – to your carbon emissions and your wider business.
To find out more about how to do all of that, talk to us.
